The day 1917

Martiros Sarian made this painting, The Day, with oil on canvas. I can imagine Sarian outside with his easel, thinking about the relationship between the village and the landscape, building up those layers of colour with a thick brush! It’s not hyper-realistic. It's more about feeling his way through the scene, trying to capture the energy of the place. See how he's laid down those vibrant blocks of colour to create the buildings, and the way the hills are these striated lines which give this sensation of light, shadow, and texture? It’s like he’s digging into the essence of the village. What kind of houses are they? What is the nature of the life that is lived there? It is a really bold approach. Sarian’s work is so different from other painters, but I think he makes a solid connection to the way that people engage with the world around them every day.